Hello dear Steemians
Being a photographer in Venezuela can be difficult especially because of our crime problem. I admire professional photographers of my country who, although they know how bad crime rates are, go out with their gear to be productive, either because they were hired for a party or event or because they were hired for a session in the street, a park or a venue.
Sometimes I wish I could do the same, but to be honest, I am very afraid to expose myself to a bad experience. (And that I don’t even have professional gear, nor am I a professional, I'm just getting started). So what does a novice photographer like me do to create content, to make good photographs (as good as possible) without leaving home? Well, It’s all about creativity.
Certainly, every artist goes through stages of mental block or lack of inspiration, but as a psychologist, I can tell you that we put that on mental block on ourselves. We put a mental barriers and come up with limits such as: I don’t have “this” or “that” prop, I don’t have “this” or “that” piece of equipment, I don’t have “this” or “that” makeup like that, this lighting sucks… You get the idea.
When you have "little", you have to be ingenuous.
Mental barrier nº 1
I don’t have a good camera!
You would be surprised what you can do with a digital camera or a cell phone camera, you would be surprised. Nowdays digital cameras and cell phones come with many functions or configurations that allow you to have a professional finish (within its limitations). So don’t just make up excuses for yourself, I know good photographers that make excellent photographs with cell phones and make money off em’.
Here`s my last blog so you know what I take my photographs with.
https://steemit.com/photography/@milo.mar/do-you-want-to-know-what-i-use-to-make-my-photographs-find-out-here
Mental Barrier nº 2
I don’t have a photo studio with good lighting equipment!
You don’t need to have a special room to take pictures, and you don’t need to have some super lighting fixtures. You have Daylight (which has its downsides but it is what I use and it works for me). You just have to know what time of the day has the right lighting for shooting your photos, especially if you will do it outdoors. Take advantage of everything nature gives you.
(These feet are husband’s and mine, go ahead and ask me how I took the photo) ;)
If you want to take pictures inside in the comfort of your home, you just have to look for the best lit place in your home and make your own "Photo Studio", you can search the Internet about how to make your own light reflectors with aluminum foil or Styrofoam, look for lamps of the type of light that you want, and start creating compositions or thematic images about, makeup, seasonal pics, writing, technology, drawing, meals... You have plenty to choose from. Do not lock yourself in one idea.
Mental Barrier nº 3
I don’t have a model!
You don’t need a professional model, you only need someone fresh, someone whose essence you can capture, the beauty of us human beings is our diversity, and people love that, they love to see new faces expressing emotions such as happiness, sadness, anger, fear, but let it be genuine, authentic, organic.
Besides, you can model for yourself. As long as you take good care of aesthetics of course, (it also depends on what you want to convey) but whenever you do a photo shoot with people you must take care of the background it is very important. If you decide to be your own model, I'll tell you that the fight with the timer is tough, just be patient.
(It's me after several attempts, I took the photo with my cell phone and I don’t have a tripod)
Mental Barrier nº4
I do not know what to take pictures of!
Well, you can take pictures of everything you want as long as you try to have a professional finish, such as: food, sweets, desserts, computers, laptops, cups of coffee or tea, medications, personal perspective, your pet… You get the idea.
In your own home you have a lot of things to take advantage of. But if you are like me, and you like photography but you also want profit off it, then you have to research and see what kind of photos sell better and more, you can also be inspired by seeing pictures of other colleagues, so you can get ideas and make your own stuff, your own style.
Everything is in you, you are your own boss and your personal and professional growth is on your own hands, when you get blocked, use the Internet for your own benefit and I assure you that your lack of inspiration will gradually be removed.
So, what other advice could you give?
<3 Thank you very much for devoting your time to my post, I am very grateful <3